Monday 1/12/09 igloos...

We went outside tonight. The neighbor kids came out to play. There was a pile of snow in our front yard that had been built-up from when we shoveled the driveway. The kids added to the snow, patted it down, and tried to dig out a igloo. They added some snow from the front yard, the back yard and some from across the street. Three kids started to dig out the inside, so the door was three kids wide. Then they took off one more side, and decided to add a window. I mentioned that if they took off all of the walls, the ceiling would fall down. They really hadn't realized that. When we went inside, they still had one wall.

Monday 1/12/09 snow and school...

It snowed another four inches yesterday. Today should be clear, and then the snow returns tomorrow. We have shoveled, gone sledding and the kids had a snowball fight...I am ready for spring.
William has his first full week of classes this week. The books that he has for this quarter (semester?) are much lighter than last quarters were. I am glad about that.

Saturday 1/10/09 shoveling...

No one was sore from all of the sledding yesterday.
We had a busy day today. We matched up clothes for next week, and made sandwiches, took down the Christmas tree (the living room looks so much bigger now) and shoveled the sidewalk and the driveway. We had between five to eight inches of snow. After we went in, it was still snowing. They say that the snow will end tonight, but we will get more snow this next week. Usually, one snowfall melts before the next one comes in.

Friday 1/9/09 sledding...

We went sledding today. It had snowed all afternoon, dry, puffy flakes. It wasn't great sledding at first, the kids needed to pack the snow down by going down the hill a lot of times. After a while the sledding was faster. There were a lot of kids on the hill...a lot to see and to look out for while going up and down the hill. Lots of kids makes it more interesting. We take extra gloves so the kids can change if the first pair gets wet.

Thursday 1/8/09 starting college and days off...

William started college today. When I picked him up and asked him how it went, he said ''OK''. He doesn't give out a lot of information. He did get a book on programming Linux (I think that the spelling is correct). William was very excited about this. He wants to learn to program.
The girls have the day off tomorrow. It may be a teacher ''in-service''day. They got their toys ready to play tomorrow.
We went outside tonight. We shoveled our sidewalk, and the sidewalk at the house that doesn't have anybody living in it. Then the girls played. One of the neighbor kids came out and played with them.

Wednesday 1/7/09 registering for classes...

William is registered for his classes and he also has the books. What a relief. I'm a mom, I worry. He starts school tomorrow. He still has notebooks and pens from last quarter (semester), so he didn't need any supplies.
It was really slippery out today.
This weekend we need to take down the Christmas tree.

Tuesday 1/6/08 registering for classes...

William registered for classes today. He is really happy with his choices. They are all freshman classes like math and English. He will be done each day by four PM, so I am happy, no evening classes. He starts Thursday.
It snowed today at lunch. It was a pretty snow, light and fluffy. Just enough to cover the ground, but not enough to need to shovel.

Monday 1/5/09 snow and school...

Almost all of our snow is gone, but it may snow a lot this week. I do like the snow on the trees and on the grass, it is so pretty. We would like to sled too.
The girls went back to school today. They were missing their friends. William goes back on Thursday. He will go in and register for classes tomorrow. We are all hoping that he can get all of his classes during the day and doesn't need to be there during the evening too.

Monday 1/5/08 school anad snow...

William starts school this week so we wanted to get him a haircut. The girls don't want haircuts, they are trying to grow their hair longer.
The weather people think that we are going to have freezing rain today, then they say that it will snow. So there will be snow on top of the ice. What a mess. The snow is OK, I just don't like the ice. Maybe we can go sledding next weekend.

Saturday 1/3/09 volunteering and back to school...

We were scheduled to volunteer at the Food Bank this morning. I had really looked forward to it all week...planning what time to leave home to be on time, what to wear to keep warm (it is in a warehouse without heat, but out of the weather)...but there was no one there when we arrived. We waited for a while and no one showed up. We also drove around and came back...maybe I had written the time down wrong. It never opened. We will try again next month. They are only open on one Saturday a month.
The girls go back to school next week, so today we started matching clothes for next week, and making sandwiches to freeze for lunches. It is always so nice to have everything done ahead.

Friday 1/2/08 New Years vacation...

It didn't snow or rain today. It may rain tomorrow. We do want to go sledding this winter. I hope that we will have snow again soon.
Next week the girls go back to school and William has another week off. We have had a good vacation. Christmas vacation went by so fast...it was preparation, and the singing at church the night before, and Christmas day, and spending the gift certificates and writing thank-yous. But New Years is a lot of free time. It has been nice to relax without a lot of activities.
Maybe next weekend we can take the Christmas tree down.

Thursday 1/1/09 dirt and snow...

It is a new year. It always seems strange to put the new year on the date...like going from '08 to '09. We didn't do a lot today. We bought dirt to go around the foundation of the house. The bags are frozen and in the garage. When they thaw, we can put them around the house. We have a little bit of snow. About an inch. It is pretty, but there isn't enough of it to shovel.

Wednesday 12/31/08 Happy New Year!!!...

Happy New Year!!! Have a safe and happy holiday.
We had a quiet day. We had rented movies from the library yesterday, so we watched them today. I put plastic on some of the windows. If we don't move by this spring, I may replace another window.
The kids didn't have any New Year's resolutions this year. I usually have a lot...but this year I just want to help the kids and move.

Tuesday 12/30/08 the last full night of 2008...

This is the last full night of 2008. The year has gone by so fast.
I bought calenders for next year today. It is amazing how many appts. we have already.
The weather has gotten relatively warmer, it is thirty degrees. I need to put plastic on more of the windows.
I think that the next big project for next year is to paint the living room ceiling. I have been putting it off because the couch will need to be moved.

Monday 12/29/08 programming, friends and hats...

William has downloaded a new computer program, Linux, I think that that is it's name. He is going to try to start programming in that language. He really wants to learn to program. This is a good time to try, since he is out of school for a while.
The girls had the neighbor girls over for a while. The group never sat still. They started a movie and then went to another room. There was a lot of laughter.
The snow has melted, and the rain has stopped.
I have started crocheting hats. I was getting board making blankets.

Monday 12/29/08 finishing one year, and starting another...

These are the fun days...between Christmas and New Years. The kids are out of school and get to play, the world seems more magical. We have shared with others at Christmas, and will celebrate the past and what is to come on New Years. I like to make a list of things to do over the next year, and to look back and see if I have accomplished anything over the last year. We have come a long way, William started college, Maggie and Beth are both in Junior High, and I feel very ready to move, the house is in good shape.

Saturday 12/27/08 resting and warmer weather...

We relaxed today. It was nice to not have anything set that we needed to do. We played games and watched movies. It was about sixty degrees out. Everything was melting. The yard was so wet, like a sponge, and the road was full of water...it had all been ice before. I think that tomorrow it will be about forty deg. and then back to the thirties for next week.

Friday 12/16/08 Christmas and Thank-you cards...

We had a fun Christmas. My mom and brother came over and spent some time with us. The present that the kids were the most taken with was the Cube World. It is a plastic cube that has stick people in it. They can be stacked together like an apartment complex and the stick people will go and visit their neighbors. Some of it is OK, sometimes they get mad at each other and fight...so it is not for little kids. It is interesting to watch. The kids got some gift certificates, so we went to a few stores to redeem them. Better to go now while the sales are going.
When we came back, the kids and I wrote out our Thank-you cards. It is nice to have them done.
I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday 12/24/08 Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! May all of you have a safe, happy and prosperous 2009.
I need to wrap the presents tonight. I don't know how I got so far behind. Next year I will start sooner. My Mom and brother are coming over at seven AM to have Christmas with us. We do have a large family, but we are the only ones who live in this town. We call or e-mail everyone else.
We went to the Christmas program at church tonight. It was fun to see all of the little kids on stage. I will miss it when my kids aren't in it anymore.

Tuesday 12/23/08 ornaments and warm weather...

The Christmas shopping is done, but we still need to make the ornaments. The ornaments are on the dining room table. We need to get colored pens and color them. William usually doesn't want to participate in this, so the girls and I do one for him. The weather is supposed to get to about forty degrees today and melt a lot of the snow. If it does, I hope that a lot of it drains away so that when it re-freezes tonight we don't have really thick ice.
The kids are really excited for Christmas, and for being off from school for a while. This is such a fun time of the year.

Monday 12/22/08 dresses and snow...

We found Beth's dress today. It was hard to find one that didn't look like a prom dress. Tomorrow we will color the ornaments, and on Wednesday we have choir practice early in the day.
I have heard that it will be a white Christmas. I am hoping that it will not be as cold as it has been.

Monday 12/22/08 candy canes and holiday preparations...

We went out yesterday to hang candy canes on peoples doors to invite them to our Christmas Eve service. It was so cold. We were out for about twenty minutes, and were cold.
Today we need to find a dress for Beth, and if we can make ornaments for the tree. I hope that your Christmas preparations are going really well.
The first weekend in Jan we are...hopefully...going to volunteer at the Food Bank. I am really excited.

Saturday 12/20/08 cold weather and preparations...

I am sorry that I am late with this blog. We made the Christmas presents yesterday, and got two dresses. Beth still needs one. We also started the cookies. We will finish them tonight. It is really cold. Winter came in early and hard this year.
Everything should be done for Christmas. Today we are going back to church to hang candy canes on peoples doors with notes to invite them to the Christmas Eve service. Then we can come back and relax for a while.

Friday 12/19/08 crunchy snow and plans for the weekend...

A storm came in last night. There was snow and then rain, and then it froze. What a mess. It made the snow crunchy on top. Beth said that her favorite part was walking on the snow and having it break under her. She was so excited. The eyes of a child see many wonders.
Tomorrow we are going to have the kids make their Christmas presents. Then we are going to get dresses for the girls. William already has a suit. I asked him if he wanted a Christmas tie to wear. He said ''no'' very quickly. Then we are going to make cookies. We each also need to make an ornament for the tree. This will be a full weekend. The kids are so excited. The girls are out of school for the holiday also. Maggie is happy to have more time to read and Beth already misses all of her friends.

Thursday 12/18/08 snow and hats...

We went outside to play today. The snow was too fluffy and dry to have a snow ball fight or to make a snowman. The kids made a hill out of snow. They shoveled the front yard, and the sidewalk. The neighbor kids came out, so they shoveled their sidewalk and grass for the snow. The snow was hauled in a wagon and on sleds.
I am starting to crochet hats. Tonight was my first try. I started to late, so the hat won't be finished tonight.

Wednesday 12/17/08 Christmas...

There was no more snow today. I think that it may all melt later this week. I have made a list of things that need to be done before Christmas. It is a lot longer than I thought it would be. I did cross one thing off today. Most of the things will be done this weekend...like the kids making Christmas presents and all of us making ornaments. I need to buy more film for the camera.
William is enjoying his vacation. I think that he is reading.

Tuesday 12/16/08 snow and Christmas cards...

It snowed today after we got home. We drove home with no snow, but an hour later, everything was white. We went out and shoveled. Now,looking outside, it is all covered up again.
The Christmas cards are almost done.Cheer, cheer...I need one address, and they can go out tomorrow. Maybe next year we will have moved and then I can address them sooner. Maybe.

Monday 12/15/08 broken tooth and rain...

William re-broke a tooth. He had broken it when he was in grade school. At that time they said that it would need repaired again in ten or fifteen years. It has been about that long and it broke off. We went to the dentist today to have it repaired. I was hoping that with all of the new technology the new repair would last a lifetime. They said ''no'', it would last another ten or fifteen years.
It rained last night, and then got really cold today. The water from the rain on the top of my car beaded-up and then froze. It looks like art on the roof of the car.

Monday 12/15/08 presents and ornaments...

I need to get one more present, then I have Christmas done...everything still needs wrapped. The kids have decided to write everyone a card for their gift. We will probably do that next weekend. We also make an ornament each year. Each person makes one. Lately they have been wooden designs that we color with markers, or sparkles. Then we put our initials on the back with the year. It is fun to see them all on the tree each year. William sometimes doesn't do one...so we do one for him.

Saturday 12/13/08 winter boots and vacation...

We bought boots today. It is a relief to have that done. I guess that we are not late, winter hasn't even started yet. When we got home, the girls wore their boots in the house, to get them worn in a little bit.
Today was William's first day of vacation, he looked very relaxed. I didn't get the Christmas cards finished today, maybe tomorrow.

Friday 12/12/08 snow and school...

It snowed today. For a while it was almost white-out conditions.Then it stopped. The forecast is that it is going to get warm on Sunday, and all of the snow will be gone.
William is finished with his finals. He looks happy. It will seam strange not to take him to school each day. I take a picture of the kids on their first and last days of school each year. Then when they are grown, the pictures can be put into frames and we can see how they grew.

Thursday 12/11/08 weather and to-do lists...

We have started to receive Christmas cards. I still need to write out eight cards. We do have the stamps now. I will write them out this weekend. The warm weather a few days ago melted all of the snow, now it is just cold. We went outside to play today. It felt good to get out into the fresh air.
The other day I found my list of things that I wanted to accomplish before winter got here. I was able to cross off a lot of items.

Wednesday 12/10/08 selling goldfish, winter boots...

Beth wants to start a business. She wants to sell goldfish. When we buy crickets for the frogs, the tank of feeder fish is next to the crickets. Beth has been looking at the fish for a long time. She is now going to go to school and see if she can supply the goldfish when they have a fair, and to ask her friends if they would buy a fish from her. I said that she should get a note from her friends parents before she delivers any fish. The fish are ten for a dollar. Beth has already named the first ten. She hasn't bought the fish yet, but she has the names ready.
The kids tried on their boots today. William's fit, the girl's don't. Maybe we can get boots this weekend. If we wait too long, they will be all sold out.

Tuesday 12/9/08 giving...

My kids and I have been loaning money...25 dollars at a time...to people in other countries at www.kiva.org. We haven't given a lot, when the person pays the money back, the kids and I pick a new person to give the money to. It is cool to see the people that the money goes to and read about how they want to change their lives. It is inspiring. We don't make any interest, but it is so nice to be able to help someone. There are people that don't pay the loans back, but most of them do.
I heard today on the World News that there is another site where teachers can go and post their needs, like paper and pencils. I am going to get onto the website tonight and see if it is something that the kids and I should do. It is at www.donorschoose.org.
It is a balance to teach the kids about making sure that they pay their bills...and take care of themselves...and give to others. They can't neglect themselves to help others, but they should be happy givers too.

Monday 12/8/08 rain and game night...

It rained today. The snow is probably all melted by now. It is going to get cold tonight and make ice...and then it will get warm, in the forties. I spend a lot of time driving slowly.
We had game night tonight. We like to play Blokus. We are getting "Apples to Apples" and a second game for Christmas. I don't know the name of the second game yet.

Monday 12/8/08 Christmas tree...

We put the Christmas tree up on Saturday. We re-arranged the furniture and brought up the boxes of decorations from the basement. Last year we had a problem with the tree tilting to one side. This year the kids tied it to the base with twine. It felt really sturdy. I hope that it stays up. We have two trees, so we have two tree tops. We couldn't find the correct top, so we decided to put up the incorrect one and add a lot of decorations and lights. We all put up the lights...we all stand around the tree and pass the lights around the tree to each other. This year Maggie and Beth are tall enough to reach almost to the top of the tree. When we plugged in the lights only two strands turned on...we forgot to test them first. We decided to leave all of them on and to re-arrange them so that the tree was covered. Next we put on the ornaments. Most of the ornaments must be in storage, usually the tree is covered. The tree looks great, but it has considerably less ornaments than it would normally have. I guess that this is better if someone is looking at the house, but it seems a little empty to us. When we were all done, we found the correct tree top of the tree in the bottom of a box. We decided to leave it there. While we decorate we have Christmas music playing on the radio. It adds a nice spirit to the room.

Saturday 12/6/08 roller skating...

We went rollerskating yesterday. There were a lot of kids. They were mostly junior high and senior high age. There were a few younger and older ones. The music was ''today's''music. There wasn't one song that I knew. The events were similar to when I was young. There was a backwards skate, a girl only skate, a boy only skate, a couple skate...another big difference was that last time a lot of kids were playing the games to get tickets for prizes. This time only one or two kids were playing the games, but a lot of kids were sitting on the floor by the game machines. They were all talking and having fun, on the floor.
The kids faces looked so young, like they didn't have a care in the world. I want to enjoy life that much.

Friday 12/5/08 snow, roller skating and school...

It has started snowing. At first is was so light that I needed to look twice to see that it was really snowing. Now the snow is a bit heavier. We may have one to two inches of snow tomorrow. Tonight we are going roller skating. The girls are very excited. I need to finish putting up the plastic on the windows in the living room before we put the Christmas tree up.
William is finishing a paper that is due next week. He is almost done.

Thursday 12/4/08 weekend plans...

The girls are going to go roller skating with their friend tomorrow night. Saturday we are going to put up the Christmas tree. William has finals next week...he has already taken some this week. We still need to try on boots, I can't remember to have the kids do this. This is the last winter item that we need to get. The Christmas cards aren't finished. I need to get Christmas stamps. It sounds like a long list, but as soon as the tree is up, and the boots and cards are done, we can all relax and enjoy the season. I hope that all of you have a restful month.

Wednesday 12/3/08 day off and volunteering...

William had the day off today. I think that he did homework. The girls and I got more crickets for the frogs and then went to their choir practice.
I want our family to volunteer. I called the Food Bank to see if families can help. They said that they are open one Saturday a month and we would be welcome. I think that we will wait until next month, William has finals next week and I don't want to pull him off track. I am very excited about doing this.

Tuesday 12/2/08 decorating...

We started listening to Christmas songs on the radio today. We are going to try to put up the Christmas tree this weekend. Sometimes it goes up really easily. The tree just stays in the stand...and sometimes it doesn't. We start early in the day to put it up, in case it isn't an easy year.
It snows a little bit each day. The snow hasn't stuck to the ground yet, it is just pretty floating in the air.

Monday 12/1/08 other houses and windows...

There are forty-two other houses in my area that have four bedrooms and are in the same price range as my house. I was going to look them all up on the computer and see what features they have, but instead I am going to make this house the cleanest house on the list. I can't make this house into something that it isn't, but I can make it clean.
The plastic has fallen off of the window in my room. It needs to be taped back up. It is nice that the kids windows have been replaced. Their rooms are warm and they can look through their windows year-round.

Monday 12/1/08 snow and playgrounds...

It snowed yesterday. There was no accumulation, but it was pretty to see it fall from the sky. The Christmas cards are almost done: one needs an address, and eight need the paragraph about the kids written onto them. Oh...they all need stamps.
I think that I am going to start taking the girls to the park at night after school to play for a while. After dinner it is so dark and the neighbor kids aren't out. This would get us some exercise.

Sunday 11/30/08 blogging, TV and moving...

OK...I have not been blogging consistently. I am going to try to blog earlier in the day. I have been waiting to blog until I get everything else done, then I am too tired. I will move it up on my list and see if I can regain the consistency.
I watched Kenneth Copeland on TV this morning. He is always good at recharging me.
I lowered the price of the house yesterday. It would be great to be moved before the end of the year. I would like to get the girls in a new school at the beginning of the new quarter. I hope that this works.

Saturday 11/29/08 shopping...

I went shopping yesterday. I think that this is my first ''Black Friday" shopping trip. The parking lot was really full. I have never seen the parking lot so full. I was worried about how long the lines would be. There were two carts in the cart area. There were enough people there that I had to go slowly down the isles, but the crowds weren't huge. Everyone was filling their carts and some people had arm-loads of items. The checkout lines were long, but the wait was only about ten minutes. From what I have heard from my friends, this wasn't normal. But it was fun.

Thursday 11/27/08 Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We had a lot of fun today. The kids helped to prepare the meal. I always want to try to make a new dish, but I don't get out any new recipes. Maybe next week I will get out the cook book.
We have a white piece of cloth that we write what we are thankful for on each Thanksgiving. We use permanent marker. (If you do this, put some newspaper under the material. The ink can go through to the table underneath). We write our names and the date by what we wrote. Then years from now, we can see what we had thought about in the past.
The kids helped to put the left-overs away. It is always fun to see how they will work together. When they were young, the girls looked up to William. He would ask them to get him a lid for a container or put something away, and they would do it. Now, they all think that they are in charge. One will say to the other, "I need a lid for this container", and the other will say, "yes you do". They were all putting a left-over away and didn't want to leave their spot.

Wednesday 11/26/08 Thanksgiving break...

William has been on Thanksgiving break this week. Yesterday he walked to the mall and stopped off at a store on the way. He said that he walked for four hours. He enjoys walking and doesn't want to get his drivers license. If he rides his bike, then he needs to get off of it at each intersection and walk it across. He is careful about this because he was hit by a pick-up truck a few years ago. His leg was broken. Now he is more careful. William says that it is faster to walk than to get off of the bike at each corner. Also, I don't think that there are any bike racks at the mall. William wanted to buy a new computer game during this break.
The girls have off Thursday and Friday.

Tuesday 11/25/08 Thanksgiving and game night...

OK, its one day until Thanksgiving...mom has brought over the turkey for me to cook...she is bringing the pies and green bean casserole and rolls with her on Thanksgiving day...we are making the mashed potatoes and stuffing and sweet potatoes. It is not too late to buy the ingredients. We can get them tomorrow...peal the potatoes together tomorrow night (we always peal the potatoes as a family...it is our tradition) and put the potatoes in water in the fridge overnight. and make the rest of the food in the morning...we should be OK. I won't panic yet...
Tonight we had game night, we played Blokus.Then I put plastic on some of the windows. The rooms always feel so much better after the plastic is up.

Monday 11/24/08 windows and houses...

The bathroom window now has plastic on it. The upstairs is now done!!! If we weren't going to move, next I would have gotten a new screen door for William's room and replaced the bathroom window and the girl's closet windows. It would be nice not to have to put plastic on anything on that floor.
I am going to lower the price of the house after Thanksgiving. I am hoping to move before Christmas. Can a sale be completed that fast? I am tired of having half of our things in storage.

Monday 11/24/08 raking leaves...

I'm sorry that I didn't post on Saturday, the electricity went out on our street that night. It came back on in the night, but too late to post. I need one of those phones that connects to the Internet so that if the power does go out, I am still connected.
We raked the back yard this weekend. The kids and I raked all of the leaves to the front curb. The kids are so much older now and were very helpful. Maggie and Beth like to be in front and rake the first parts of the pile to the curb. William likes the end so that he can do the detail work of getting the last leaves into the pile. The yard is green again.

Friday 11/21/08 library movies and house cleaning...

We went to the library to get movies today. They had a lot fewer VHS movies. I asked them if a lot of people were checking out movies today. They said that they are phasing out the VHS movies, and selling them. They will be replaced with DVD's.
When we got home, the kids and I started to clean the house. They vacuumed the rooms, and I washed the bathrooms and mopped the floors. The work is easier when a lot of people are helping and there are movies at the end.

Thursday 11/20/08 neighbors and Thanksgiving...

We went outside to play today. The neighbors were out raking their yard. It was so nice to see them. We are a close neighborhood. In the summer we are all outside a lot. It is difficult in the winter when we don't see our friends as much. We took the neighbor girl with us to pick William up from school. It was a night that he had a test, so he was late coming out. We had her call home to say that she was OK and we were waiting for William.
We need to get ready for Thanksgiving this weekend. I still need to finish the Christmas cards...I would really like to send them out just after Thanksgiving. You know...if I spent as much time addressing them as I do writing about addressing them, they would be done. I should buy the stamps tomorrow.

Wednesday 11/19/08 screen doors and choir...

In William's room he has an outside door with a screen door. Today William and I put plastic around the screen door. It is an old screen door that doesn't keep out much of the cold. The door is on the second floor in the back of the house, so very few people will see it. I will try to put plastic on the rest of the windows this weekend.
The girls had choir tonight. They like to sing. It is very casual, they get a lot done, but it is not tense, the kids have fun. I think that they enjoy seeing their friends as much as they like singing.

Tuesday 11/18/08 crickets...

We got more crickets for the frogs to eat today. We buy fifty crickets at a time, then we don't need to go back as often. We feed the crickets carrot shavings. In the summer we also feed them grass.

Monday 11/17/08 flu shots, homework and plastic on windows...

We got our flu shots today. Maggie had a lot of homework to do tonight, we have a new educational computer game that Beth played since she didn't have any homework.
It has turned colder. I need to put plastic onto the windows. I called the real estate lady and she said that it would be OK. Then people would see that they would need plastic on these windows too. She didn't think that it would hurt the sale of the house. I wonder...as soon as the plastic goes up, will we start top get people coming over to see the house again?

Monday 11/17/08

It has been snowing here for three days. The snow is not sticking, but it has been snowing. The kids get flu shots today.

Sunday 11/16/08 signing up for classes and "Bratz" dolls...

We signed William up for his next terms classes yesterday. It was a lot easier this time, since we have signed him up one other time. Then we went to get him a winter jacket. We went to the mall. I don't think that there is a recession in my town. The mall parking lot was full. It took a long time to find a parking spot. Also, everyone that we saw coming out of the mall was caring a package. Usually when there are rough economic times, no one has bought anything, they are all just looking. Yesterday, they were buying.
We literally went into every store in the mall that sells men's clothes to look for a winter jacket with a hood that does not come off (no zippers or buttons) and does not have any fur around the hat. William does not like the fur, he thinks that it looks like a girls jacket. We couldn't find a winter jacket. Last week when we went to look, we went to four stores. We were all tired after looking at the mall, and still didn't have a jacket. Beth had received some money for her birthday, so she wanted to go to another store to spend it. She had seen an MP3 player...is that the one that music can be loaded onto?...so we went to look. It was a store that we had gone to last week for winter jackets, but since we were there, we looked again...you never know, more jackets may have come in. We found a winter jacket for William. Cheer and clap... Beth decided that she didn't want the MP3 player. so she bought some "Bratz" dolls.
Have you seen the "Bratz" dolls? They are the ones that the feet come off and you can put different feet on them. Then the child doesn't have to slip the shoes on and off, they just put on different feet, that already permanently have shoes on them. It is really freaky to go around the house and see these stray feet laying around, or to see these dolls without feet. The new dolls have legs and feet that come off. The doll then had from its stomach up attached. The one that Beth got has three sets of legs. So we have two sets laying around without a body. This is even freakier. Maggie had the two sets of legs dancing, one set had ballerina feet and the other were regular with every day shoes on. Beth likes them. They come with lots of clothes.

Saturday 11/15/08 birthdays, Christmas cards and busy weekends...

We had Beth's birthday party last night. She is twelve years old now. Beth has grown about two and a half inches in the last year. She is as tall as William was at eleven. Right now she is my most petite child...I don't know if she well end up that way.
I started the Christmas cards last night. They all have our return address on them. I have written the note that I want to put into all of the cards, but it still needs written into each card. I decided that this could wait for another day. Maybe I will put all of the stamps on next.
Today we need to get William registered for the next term in college, get William a winter jacket, and get haircuts. The weather is turning chillier and it is raining.

Thursday 11/13/08 this weekend...

The weather was spring-like today. It started off chilly, and turned out to be beautiful. We will need to go to the library soon. The kids are almost done with their books. We don't have much planned for this weekend. It may be nice to rest.

Wednesday 11/12/08 pictures...

I like to change the family pictures around the house now and then. We have a lot of pictures, but they are in photo albums. To get some of them seen, they are rotated in the picture frames in the house. I was hoping that the kids would look at the pictures and recognise that they are different, but they don't. So after the pictures are changed, I take them around and point out the new ones, and answer any questions that they have about who is in the pictures or where we were. It is like having a rotating picture show.

Monday 11/10/08 decorations and weather...

We still have our Halloween decorations up. We need to take them down. Maybe tomorrow. The kids had a good day, they were warm in their winter jackets. The weather turned cold so fast. I am ready for spring.

Tuesday 11/11/08 board games and Christmas cards...

We had game night tonight. We played "Blokus". It is a board game where each person has pieces that they take turns adding to the board to see who can find a place to put all of their pieces. Beth had a plan this time on how and which pieces to use next...Maggie made lawnmower noises. Have you guessed yet that Maggie is the class clown? It was fun.
Tonight I am going to start filling out the Christmas cards. I found a new saying to put on my computer. It is ''You choose what to do with the time that you are given" It is from "Lord of the Rings". Making all of the lists in the world won't help me if I don't choose to get anything done.

Monday 11/10/08 winter jackets...

We found winter jackets for the girls this weekend. William couldn't find one that he liked that had an attached hood, so we will keep looking. We also now have hats and gloves for everyone. They have last years jackets, but they will be too small soon.
We went to my mom's house to see my Uncle and Aunt for a short while yesterday. We couldn't stay long, the kids go to school today. They are leaving today (Monday), it was so fun to see them.

Saturday 11/8/08 busy weekend...

We had a busy day. My Uncle and Aunt came into town last evening. They are staying with my mom. We went to see them today after lunch. We went to the park and then went and had ice cream, then went to mom's house for an hour, then went out to dinner, then went back to mom's house to talk and relax. It was fun, but full. It would be nice if all of the relatives lived closer. They are leaving on Monday morning after breakfast. We are going to give them some of our snowdrop bulbs to take back home.

Friday 11/7/08 frogs and flower bulbs...

We cleaned out the frogs container today. It was chilly out so we sat on the kitchen floor with newspapers under the container to clean it. The hardest part is catching the crickets. They must be put into a separate container before the big container can be cleaned out.
We also dug up all of our snowdrop flower bulbs. They are the ones that bloom in January or February. When they originally came, they were planted about a foot apart. Now each one has multiplied so that each one is a clump of about ten bulbs. The bulbs need to be dug up and carefully separated. Then they can be replanted. In another five years, all of them will be about ten bulbs. It is better to separate them each year...but we didn't. It will be nice this winter to see so many flowers.

Thursday 11/6/08 pictures, papers and decorations...

The girls had school pictures today. They were very excited. William has had to write a lot of papers for college recently. He does most or all of his writing at school. He has been very busy with college. He looks pleased with the challenge. We haven't heard back from his "first choice" college yet on if he was accepted ...so he will register here at the Community College for next term.
We need to take the Halloween decorations down. It is time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

Tuesday 11/4/08 tag and decorations...

The weather was great today. I had my winter jacket off.The girls played tag today. Today they are running down one side of the street and crossing to the other side and running down it, playing tag as they go. It looks more like they are running track.
We need to put the Halloween decorations away, Thanksgiving will be here soon.
Maggie and Beth switched jobs today. Maggie will now put dinner away and Beth will feed the crickets...that feed the frogs. This is a permanent switch. They are both sure that their new job will be easier than their old one.

Monday 11/3/08 Christmas cards...

I have found my Christmas cards for this year. The next step is to start addressing them. OK...actually...I found them about two weeks ago. Now each day I stare at them. If they aren't addressed soon, they won't be ready to be mailed right after Thanksgiving. Maybe this week.
Beth's Birthday is in November. Her present is now in my room. It needs to be near me so that it can be wrapped without the kids seeing where they are kept.
We have birthday's in September, October and November, also the holidays Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The end of the year is very full for us.

Monday 11/3/08 crochet and dinner...

I have started to crochet again. It is nice to have a warm Hobie in the winter. I like making the blankets. Since I can't match colors, picking yarn is frustrating, but after that, making the blankets is fun.To pick yarn, I either have all white boarders, or ask someone in the store to help me.
We eat dinner together. It is great to see the kids, to hear about their day. We talk about what is coming up that we need to plan for or things that happened that day. We are together at other times of the day, but only at meals are we all seated facing each other. The day's interruptions (friends, phones, homework...) are all gone, and we can talk.

Saturday 11/01/08 Birthday party...

We had William's birthday party today. My mom came over, she is the only one in the family that lives in town. William likes pie instead of cake, so we had apple pie and Recesses Cup ice cream. The pie had nineteen candles on it. This pie had the lattice top (crissed crossed top, not a full crust covering), which was easier to put nineteen candles into. Last year we had a pie with a full crust...when we put eighteen candles in it, there wasn't anything left of the top crust. After the pie and ice cream, we measured William on our measuring stick. We use a separate piece of wood, not a door frame. Then if we move, we can take it with us. William hasn't grown in the last year, but he does look taller. I think that it is because he is more mature now. We always have the presents last, then they can play with them without having to stop to have"Happy Birthday" sung to them or to be measured.

Friday 10/31/08 Halloween...

The kids went trick-or-treating tonight...the girls went, and William decided to stay home. They had fun, seeing all of the kids, getting candy, looking at peoples porch decorations. The record for candy at our house is five or six gallons of candy (we store it in gallon size Ziploc bags). Tonight they got three gallons. We guess that it is lower because William didn't go with us. On our street, the neighbors said that they had two trick-or treaters, if you include my two girls. Some years we have had as many as thirty kids, usually we have about ten kids. If we all go out we leave a bowl of candy on the front porch and the lights on.

Thursday 10/30/08 carving pumpkins...

We had a busy day. The girls and I carved pumpkins after dinner and picking William up from college. Beth started carving her pumpkin and named him "Bob"...but then she realized that the pumpkin looked more like a "Joe". Maggie wanted to see the legal papers for the name change. I carved one for William. He is older now and doesn't participate in everything any more. While we carved the pumpkins, the girls played in the seeds. It was a lot of gooey fun. Tomorrow, we get Halloween candy, and have dinner and trick-or-treat. Saturday, we have a dentist appt., and William's birthday party. This has been a busy week.

Wednesday 10/29/08 church...

William didn't have school today, so he stayed home. The girls and I went to church tonight. Usually on Wednesdays they have kids choir and dinner. But tonight, they had dinner and a slimefest. They must have invited all of the town, there were a lot of families there that I didn't recognise. Maggie went as a witch and Beth was a princess. I usually take the pictures of the events, but they were short one person so I helped. I had the booth where the kids got pretzels and marshmallows and gum drops and they could make things out of them. The pretzels get pushed into the marshmallows and gum drops to build things. The kids built a lot of houses and letters..."L" and "T" were the favorite, and one child built a helicopter. In the end they can eat their creation, throw it away or take it home. We had fun.

Tuesday 10/28/08 cat slippers and runny noses...

Beth had her cat slippers on today. She found that if she pulled her pant legs over the top of the slippers, it looked like the cat had a hat on. Beth thought that this was a riot. I think that we may be making her cat slippers hats soon.
Maggie is getting over her cold. William, Beth and I are now sniffling.

Monday 10/27/08 Homework and Halloween...

William finished his paper this morning in the computer lab at school before class started...well...he said that he was only a few minutes late for class. He did a good job.
It is getting closer to Halloween, Maggie has the sniffles, Beth is starting to sniffle, William is even sniffling. They need to be healthy before Halloween. Sometimes it rains on Halloween.

Monday 10/27/08 library and college...

We spent a lot of time this weekend at the library and the college. Maggie needed more books, so we went to the library. While we were there we rented a lot of movies. William had a paper due so we went to the college so that he could type it...we are out of ink, or he could have typed it here. Beth loves to go to all of these places and see more people.
This week has a lot going on: William turns nineteen, the girls have school pictures, Halloween, the girls have a Halloween dance at school..there is probably more, but I can't think of anything else.

Friday 10/24/08 snow shovels and Christmas cards...

We bought two more snow shovels today. The last time that we got shovels was when the kids were very young. So we have small shovels. Now, when it snows, we can all use a full size shovel.
We got out this years Christmas cards. One night I will put all of the addresses on them.Another night I will put our return address on them. I like to send them out right after we finish the Thanksgiving leftovers. If there is time I will add a short note about our family to each one. I write the same note on all of the cards. It would be difficult to think of new things to say in each of the cards, so they all get the same note. Last year the cards said...William is choosing a college, Maggie loves having a locker at school and Beth loves being the youngest. I am not sure what this years note will say.

Thursday 10/23/08 trips and winter jackets...

The girl's school is talking about taking the kids on trips this year. They are talking about the sixth grade going to Washington DC and the sixth, seventh and eighth grade going somewhere else. Last year they had a meeting about the seniors going to New York City, but there weren't enough kids that signed up, so they didn't go. The girls are so excited about taking a trip with their class.
We are going to get winter jackets this weekend. We are all looking forward to it.

Wednesday 10/22/08 bike tires and ice skating...

We got Maggie's bike back last week. The back tire had been bent when she went around a corner and hit a pothole. Maggie was OK but the bike tire was bent so that when she rode it the bike wobbled up and down like a clown's bike. The bike place was able to bend it back into place. I hope that we can go bike riding again soon.
When it gets too cold to go bike riding, we will go back to ice skating. There is an ice skating rink by us. We need to have the kids check their skates and see who has outgrown theirs.

Tuesday 10/21/08 Bringing things home from storage...

We went to the storage unit to bring home the winter blankets and my winter clothes. We had hoped that the house would sell by now and we could unpack at the next house, but that hasn't happened yet. We had kept the kids winter clothes at this house, only mine had gone to storage.
I took the blankets to the laundromat to wash them. They are too large for my machine at home.We don't need more blankets yet, but it will be good to have them when it gets colder.
We brought the witch decoration home from storage too. It is one of those witches that looks like it ran into the house. It doesn't seam like Halloween to me without the witch on the porch.We need to get some Halloween candy soon.

Monday 10/20/08 cutting the plants back for winter...

It is almost time to cut back all of the plants before winter. I don't want to cut them back too soon, if it gets warm again, they will all try to re-grow. I really don't want to cut them back twice.Because we have the house up for sale, we kept a lot of our bigger plants cut back this summer. This really made our yard look bigger. When we do cut all of the plants back, there won't be as much to do.
The rose bush clippings that we planted are doing OK. We planted seven cuttings: one sprouted, five are still green, but haven't sent out any shoots, and one died. I hope that they make it through the winter.

Monday 10/20/08 Brakes for my car...

My car's brakes started making noise last week. There are always so many questions that need answered when the car needs repaired. Will it be done in time to pick up the kids, or will it be done that day, how much will it cost, can all of the other things that needed to be done that day get done? I dropped the kids off at school and went to the car repair place. I had decided that if it was going to take too long, I could call my mom. I would rather be independent, but having to walk home or to call a cab didn't seam like a good idea. I started praying that the car would be done fast and for a low price. The mechanic looked at the car and said that it would be about $200.00 and would take an hour. I was so glad to have it done and have a safe car again.

Saturday 10/18/08 bird seed and waterdishes...

The birds have eaten all of the suet (bird food). They can eat a block of suet in less than two days. We try to put out more every week or two. One former place where we lived, we had an electric water dish. It plugged in and the water didn't freeze in the winter. We had it in the backyard . The birds and the other animals have a place to get a drink in the winter. At that time we lived in the middle of a neighborhood, so we had visits from birds and a rabbit.
I would love to have the water dish out here, but we live sort of close to a small amount of woods. I am concerned that all of the animals would come over to get a drink. I really don't want the ground hogs in our yard.

Friday 10/17/08 Shovels and perrenial flowers...

The weather is starting to get cooler. We need more shovels. We have one that is for an adult, one that can go into a car trunk and two for little kids. We need three more adult size shovels.
My friends and I were talking the other day about which flowers will grow in their yards. They both have a lot of sun, so much that their hastes don't survive. They want to plant perennials next year so that they won't need to replant each year. I told them about our Snow Drops that bloom in January or February right through the snow. We water them all summer...well we water the ground where the bulb is, and then in the winter when we are ready for spring, they sprout. I am going to take them some bulbs for their yard.

Thursday 10/16/08 New goals, leaves, and car wax...

Beth has a new goal. She wants to learn to cook. She says that there isn't anything in particular that she wanted to learn. She just wants to learn to cook. So far she can make Rice Crispy Treats. Beth says that she is happy with that, but she wants to learn more. Maggie's goal is to read more.
Maggie and Beth were in the backyard today playing. They have ''adopted'' a leaf and named it ''Leafy''.
I waxed my car the other day and missed wiping off some of the wax. I went around the car today and wiped those spots. I hope that it is all gone now.

Wednesday 10/15/08 school conferences...

We went to conferences at the girl's school today. They are in junior high, so we don't have a set time to see each teacher. There is a open block of time, and we go to teachers as we see that they aren't talking with any other parents. The teachers at this school are young, and full of energy. The girls are doing well in school.

William didn't have any school today so he stayed home. He really enjoys Wednesdays.

Tuesday 10/14/08 raking leaves...

The leaves in our neighborhood have started falling. The trees are partly green and partly a rainbow of color. The tree in our front yard has been cut down, so we don't have any leaves. The colors of the leaves on our lawn would be pretty, but I don't mind that we won't need to rake the front yard. In our back yard the neighbor's leaves fall into our yard, so we can rake them.
Before we decided to move, we had a compost pile in the backyard and we raked all of our leaves back there. We also raked all of our neighbor's leaves onto our compost pile. All of the kids in the neighborhood would come and help. No one had enough rakes for all of the kids, about twelve kids in all...so we used shovels and wagons too. We ended up with leaves everywhere, but we had a great time.

Monday 10/13/08 around campus and slow motion tag...

William is looking around the campus more. All of his classes are in one building. This building also has the cafeteria and computer room. He hasn't needed to go to any other building. He has found the library in another building, and the engineering building.
The girls played tag in slow motion tonight. Sometimes on bikes, sometimes on foot. It was very interesting to watch.

Monday 10/13/08 small pans ans apple festival...

We have been looking for a small black pan with a black lid to finish up our solar oven. We haven't been able to find one. All of the ones that I am seeing have long handles.
We went to an apple festival this weekend. It was so much fun to go somewhere new. They had old tractors, made apple cider (the tractors didn't make the cider, people did), and had re-enactments with Civil War soldiers. There were a lot of booths showing old skills, like candle making, tatting (it sort of looks like lace), bow and arrow making, etc. We were only there for a few hours, but we were all pretty tired when it was done. We liked the demonstrations the best. There is a general store in town that we did not get to see, and we wanted to rent a canoe, but they were closing when we got there. We need to go back to this town again soon and see these things.

Saturday 10/11/08 Halloween planning...

We bought Halloween costumes for the girls today. Maggie didn't know what she wanted to be and Beth wanted to be a witch. They like to get costumes that can be warn over their winter jackets. Also, I don't allow any masks that could cover their eyes or any scary costumes. We are a PG rated, Walt Disney family. Maggie found a black cape, a wig and a really big purple hat. She is a funky witch. Beth found the same cape and a wig, but she didn't want the same costume as Maggie. Beth ended up deciding that because Maggie had a hat, their costumes are different. Neither of them wanted any more pieces for their costume, since the jacket would probably cover it up.
We also bought pumpkins. We got one for William too. He probably won't carve it, but we like William to know that we are still thinking about him.

Friday 10/10/08 this weekend...

We have not found the third frog yet...OK we didn't look. He is probably in the container. If he got out, he hasn't come out into the open yet. We can look tomorrow. We don't need to go to the library tomorrow. Instead, we should take Maggie's bike in to get fixed, and we need to get Halloween costumes and pumpkins. The weather is going to be so nice, I hope to play outside a lot this weekend.

Thursday 10/9/08 frogs...

The lid to the frog's container was left open last night. We have one frog that jumps around a lot in the night and it got out. He (she?) was found on the kitchen floor. William put him back into his container. He hopped right into the water container. Tonight Maggie checked the cage to make sure that the other frogs were still there. She found a second frog, but not the third. He (she?) may be in the cage, but hiding...we don't know. We haven't found it around the house. I hope that the third frog is OK.

Wednesday 10/8/08 day off and Halloween...

William had the day off from school so he went to the library to do homework. The weather has turned nice again, so it was a pleasant walk.
We need to get the Halloween decorations out. It is getting late, and soon it will be too late. We need to get the girls Halloween costumes too. We should get them this weekend. We can get the candy too and put it into the freezer.

Tuesday 10/7/08 school and cold weather...

Maggie didn't feel good at school today, so I picked her up early. She is feeling better now, and will go back to school tomorrow.
The weather is still cold...to us...not to our neighbors, who are still wearing shorts. It is going to get warmer tomorrow, then we can go back to our spring jackets.

Monday 10/6/08 fixing glasses, new assignments and bike tires

Maggie and Beth both needed their glasses fixed. Maggie's nose pieces had both fallen off, and Beth's nose pieces were both bent. We went in today to get their glasses adjusted. It is nice now to see the girls with their glasses sitting in the correct spot on their noses. After we were done we had about an hour before we could pick up William, so we went to a park with a playground. It was a playground that had a large climbing area. Sort of a combination slide, with walkways and a fireman's pole and ladders etc. The girls had fun. They played tag a lot. We did go to the swings too.
Next we picked up William and went home. He said that he may not need the Forbes magazine article for his class any more. The class may be going onto another project.
This evening we went for a bike ride. Maggie went around a corner too fast and fell off of the bike. She is OK. The back tire on the bike isn't round anymore. The bike wobbles now. We will need to get a new bike tire.

Monday 10/06/08 crickets and rose cuttings...

We got more crickets on Saturday. This is a noisy group. They sing all night. When they stop singing in the morning, the birds outside are singing. I love hearing their songs. Our yellow mums by the front stairs have come in beautifully.
A few weeks ago, we took cuttings from my grandmothers rose bush and planted them. One has sprouted, and the rest are still alive...still green. I did a few things differently this time. After they were planted, they were given plant food. They were planted in an area that gets some sun and some shade, and they are watered with water that is not straight from the faucet. I heard that that water is too cold, and needs to set in the cup for a while to get to the temperature outside before it is given to the plants. Then the water isn't such a shock. I did water them every day for about the first three days, then I got busy with other things and they are now watered about once a week. It has rained some. I am so happy that one has sprouted.

Sunday 10/5/08 SAT test and errands...

I'm sorry, I tried to post last night, but was just too tired. William took the SAT test yesterday. He may need it for scholarships. While he was taking it the girls and I did some errands. We went to the library so that Maggie could get more books. She now has four books. She started reading one yesterday, and she seemed pretty interested in it. Beth also ended up with four books. Beth was only looking for one book, but it took Maggie a while to decide on her books and to have me OK them, so Beth spent a lot of time standing by the books with nothing to do. So she looked at books and chose some more. Also...we have now moved to the teen section in the library. They think that these books are so interesting.
When we were done with the library, we started looking for winter jackets. Some of the stores didn't have the jackets out yet, but they were having great sales on summer clothes. The rest of the stores had a few jackets out, but they didn't have attached hoods. We didn't get jackets yesterday. Then we bought some crickets for the frogs to eat, and went and picked up William. He said that the test had gone well.

Friday 10/03/08 Spanish, watches and memory...

Beth is teaching us Spanish. She really likes her Spanish class. It is amazing how many words that she can remember. She tells us the word and we repeat it. She looks so pleased that she is able to teach other people.
Maggie has a new watch. She is now our time teller. Sometimes she gives us the time once a day, sometimes every twenty seconds. Maggie gets really excited when the minutes change and she can give us a new time.
William has gotten a book on memory, how to remember more. One of his professors at school has told the class that someone has memorized a lot of the numbers in pi. So William wants to improve his memory too.

Thursday 10/2/08 cold weather and books...

It was chilly today. We were glad that our winter jackets still fit. The weather should get warmer next week. I will be glad to have warm weather again. The mums in our front yard are blooming. It is so nice to see the yellow flowers. It makes me feel warmer to look at them. OK...I'm a sissy. I like warm weather...70 deg. or 80 deg. is nice. It has been 50 or 60 deg. and I am cold.
Maggie has four books to read. She says that only one is interesting, but she is almost finished with it. When it is done, she will read the boring books. Maggie can't wait until Saturday when we can go to the library to get her more books.

Wednesday 10/1/08 dictionary and Halloween...

We bought a dictionary tonight. We know that we have one (or two), but we can't find it (or them). Maybe it has been packed. The one that we got is a combination dictionary and thesaurus. The kids have a lot of homework this year that they need it for.
We need to put up the Halloween decorations this week. William has decided to not go trick-or-treating this year. Maggie wants to go, but doesn't know what she wants to be. Beth wants to be a witch. She just wants a hat...one big enough to go over a winter hat, so that she can wear it if it gets cold. When the kids were little we used to make their costumes. We used wrapping paper, and tape, and boxes, and aluminum foil. Their favorite was to be a present. We cut a hole in the top of the box for their head, and holes for their arms. Then we would wrap the box in wrapping paper. It was so cute. If you do this , get a box that isn't too big or too small. If a big box is used, and the child trips and falls over, they can't get up. If the box is too small, then it is difficult to get the box on over their winter jacket.